CLEVELAND, Ohio — All Darius Garland could do was watch as his teammates slung passes out of bounds and lost their dribble into defenders’ chests. All the Cavs can do is wait for him to heal from his latest injury.
All championship hopes hinge upon Garland’s [sore big toes](https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2026/01/cavs-provide-darius-garland-injury-update.html\), and it all feels rather ominous.
Cleveland committed 21 careless turnovers during Monday’s 136-104 loss to the Thunder, off which the defending champs scored — dunk — 23 easy points. To say the Cavs missed Garland, their All-Star table-setter, is more explainer than excuse. But to see that they missed him this much?
Troubling, to say the least.
Cleveland rosters three other former All-Stars (Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen) who should, in theory, blur another’s absence. And Oklahoma City played without four rotation players, two starters and one former All-Star (forward Jalen Williams) of its own against the Cavs. But the more time Garland misses, the better we understand that this ecosystem, like its point guard, is more delicate than its contemporaries’. And the more fans struggle to square two conflicting ideas.
The Cavs need Garland to meet their ceiling, but Garland struggles to consistently meet their needs.
The seventh-year point guard missed his 17th game of the season on Monday, which began with a positive spin of his prognosis. One day after the team announced that Garland would _only_ miss seven to 10 days with a sprained right big toe — no, not the toe that required surgery this offseason and kept him out from June until November— coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters he felt fortunate to hear the news.
“I feel like we dodged a bullet,” Atkinson said. “Not ideal, obviously, but it could’ve been a lot worse.”
The numbers support Atkinson’s sigh of relief. Since Cleveland hired him, the Cavs have swapped their defense-first identity for a philosophy based on pace, space and, when the offense is humming, more defensive grace. Shoot more 3s; score more points; set your defense after made baskets.
The plan worked when the Cavs won 64 games and posted the league’s best offense a year ago. But everything makes more sense when Garland, who played 75 games that season, is available.
Allen catches more lobs. Mitchell faces fewer double teams. Neither he nor Mobley have to work as hard to score.
With him on the court last year, Cleveland’s offense scored 4.1 more points per 100 possessions than it did without him, which marked the largest difference among any high-minute player on the team (Mitchell’s offensive delta: -0.9 points per 100).
When Garland sits out, however, Allen drifts more often. Mitchell and Mobley force more difficult shots. The rest of us scratch our head.
With Garland recovering from toe surgery, Cleveland has limped to a 24-20 start during which its offensive rating has dropped nearly five points per 100 possessions from last year.
He’s played just 27 of those 44 games, mostly through discomfort. Even as Garland catalyzed last week’s 133-107 win over the 76ers in Philadelphia, the ESPN broadcast reported that his left toe felt only 70% healed.
And he finished that game with 20 points (62% shooting), seven assists and one more injured toe.
Two games later, he watched from the bench as Cleveland posted its fifth-lowest point total of the season.
No excuses, but no surprise, either. Six of the Cavs’ 10 worst scoring performances this year have come with Garland sitting out. Why?
“He’s a point guard,” forward De’Andre Hunter told cleveland.com on Monday. “The point guard controls the game. So of course, not having that person out there to control the game makes it a little tougher.”
In short, the Cavs need Garland more than other teams need other All-Stars. We see the proof in postseason game logs, where Garland’s numbers – field goal percentages, turnover rates and assist rates – have regressed from regular-season norms for three straight years, and Cleveland’s offense has followed suit. Save for last year’s first round, the Garland-era Cavs have never equaled their regular-season offensive rating in a playoff series.
We know that Garland’s injuries, which have hampered him for two straight postseasons, play a role. And we are watching a similar story unfold through 44 games of this season.
Once Garland heals from his latest health scare … then what? His surgically repaired toe, which reportedly took seven months to heal 70%, will stop bothering him? His playoff numbers will match his regular-season stats for the first time? The Eastern Conference’s seventh seed will morph into a 64-win giant again?
The Cavs can wait, and their fans can cross fingers. But all Garland could do was watch his teammates struggle against the Thunder on Monday.
Consider each turnover a reminder of both his importance and fragility. And consider how owner Dan Gilbert, who pays the league’s largest luxury tax bill, must’ve felt watching that performance.
When Garland is healthy, Cleveland can score enough to cash Gilbert’s checks. We just don’t know the next time Garland will be, or how the Cavs can achieve their goals if he isn’t.
“We’ll have to, whether he is (healthy) or not,” forward Jaylon Tyson said Monday. “That’s how this league is, and they weren’t healthy either. We can’t use that excuse.”